(she/her)
Hi! I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) practicing in North Carolina. I have been practicing for 16 years and have a wide range of therapeutic tools in my toolbox to work with clients of various ages and developmental stages. I consider it a privilege to work alongside clients who are experiencing life changes, relationship challenges, healing from past hurts, and who are wanting to grow personally. I enjoy being creative through music, art or writing, and I enjoy being a part of the healing process and journey for my clients.
During our first session, we will work together to take a look at your strengths and difficulties. We will talk about therapy goals and the process to reach those goals. But we will also begin to develop a safe space within the therapeutic relationship where you can express thoughts and emotions without judgement. My goal is to assist you in feeling empowered and supported.
A strength that I bring as a provider is my ability to listen, to empathize, to show support and to discern what may be helpful for clients when working towards therapy goals. I do not see clients as the problems they bring or a diagnosis. To me, the therapeutic relationship develops (and subsequent progress is made) when I see clients as human beings and when clients can view me as a fellow traveler on the journey who can offer support, encouragement, direction and as a fellow human who will celebrate the victory with hope and healing.
I am best trained and positioned to serve clients with a variety of needs - clients who struggle with intermittent unhelpful thought and behavior patterns, to those clients who have had a long history of trauma and/or challenges which they continue to struggle with. I work best with clients who are wanting something different in their lives but aren't sure how to get there.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
Some clients have specific non-recurrent and/or non-complex challenges they want to address and would like to focus quickly on targeted goals they have identified. I use Solution Focused Brief Therapy for this purpose.
Trauma-Focused CBT
I am fully rostered and have extensive experience using Trauma-Focused CBT, which is an evidence-based treatment for clients who have experienced trauma. TF-CBT explores thoughts, feelings, body responses and core beliefs which have developed out of traumatic experience(s) and processes the narrative of those experiences, while setting up healthy coping strategies, relaxation techniques and healthy relationship patterns and interactions in the future.
Compassion Focused
I provide compassion-focused, person-centered therapy with clients, where I value the client-therapist relationship and where I serve as a fellow traveler, supporting clients on the journey beginning with setting goals for therapy and celebrating the client's hard work until the completion of those goals.
Christian Counseling
I am a Christian and have a Biblical worldview, which I use as a foundation of working with my clients. That being said, I incorporate both clinical and spiritual components into the therapeutic process. I do not believe in forcing my own beliefs on clients and I want to always provide a safe space in which clients can explore their own beliefs about themselves, the world and relationships with others in a non-judgemental and healthy atmosphere.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with clients to assess and problem-solve personal, professional, and familial challenges. CBT, an evidence-based practice, has been foundational for my practice for over 14 years and correlates well with other modes of treatment such as Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness, Faith-Based treatment, Trauma-Based Treatment, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Attachment-Based Models and others as well. During CBT, we work together to take a look at the interactions of thoughts, feelings and behaviors and the impact of these factors on decisions, relationships, motivation, challenges and choices.